Published: May 09, 2008 11:40 am         

NTMC candidates speak of issues

The North Texas Medical Center Board of Directors has five at-large positions open, with seven candidates.

Candidates include incumbents Janice Call, Diana Eichenberger, Jay Freeman, Jerry Parr and Don Wallace, and challengers are Damian Krahl and Gloria Parrish.

Getting to know the candidates

Janice Call: “I graduated from TWU with a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing 1978, and a Master's Degree in Nursing in 1990 with emphasis on Nursing Education. At that time, I began teaching in the Associate Degree Nursing Program at NCTC. The North Texas Medical Center has been significant as a clinical site for our student nurse's training.

“My family was established in this community in 1900 in the farm and ranch business. I feel fortunate to be able to say I own, and reside on my Great-grandparent's farm here in Cooke County where I have raised my children. I often tell people this community is more like a large extended family to me.”

Diana Eichenberger: Eichenberger was born in Shawnee, Okla., and moved to Gainesville in 1960, according to previous interviews. She graduated from Gainesville High School, Cooke County College and the University of Texas at Arlington. She works as vice president and controller with First State Bank where she has worked since 1980. She is married to Fred Eichenberger who recently retired from the U.S. Postal Service. She has one daughter, two stepdaughters, and six grandchildren. Her parents are Bruce and Betty Nelson of Gainesville.

Diana has served on the Board of Cooke County Friends of the Family since 1992. CCFF is the part of her community involvement that Diana is most proud of, she said, and feels that “in a small way” she is helping the women of the community. Eichenberger is a member of Calvary Baptist Church, a member of Cooke County Business and Professional Women, serves on the Business Management Advisory Council of North Central Texas College and is a graduate of the Leadership Gainesville Program. She enjoys reading, spending time with family and shopping.

Jay Freeman: Freeman said he is a native of Texas, in Cooke County 34 years, and attended SMU in Dallas, University of the Philippines in Manila, and is a graduate of American Business Institute in New York. He is recently widowed with three sons, their wives, and six grandchildren.

His career background ranges from sales, to marketing, to management, to operating own company, then to retirement, back to marketing at local bank as director; administrative chair of local church, to CEO of a water corporation, retired, then back to marketing as state trustee director and appointed to local bank board.

Freeman also noted his six years of service as trustee and on the Board of Directors of a “local hospital, instrumental in building the new facility and its successful operation.”

Jerry Parr: Parr has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, earned in 1960 from the University of Texas.

“Margene and I have been married 50 years this summer, we have 3 children and 10 grandchildren. I was in the computer and Information Systems business for 40 years. I retired as a marketing executive from IBM in 1993. I had a consulting business after retiring from IBM.”

Don Wallace: “ I am a fighting Texas Aggie and proud of it,” Wallace said, noting his Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing.

He is married to Kay and they have three children: Don IV, Megan and Andy; with twin grandsons Tommy and Tanner — “what fun they are!” he said of his grand kids.

Wallace has been in general management with profit responsibility of $23,000,000 per year, and was in the fax and computer business prior to moving to Cooke County. He sold that business to move here and raise Tennessee Walking Horses.

“I am now retired and working to make Cooke county an even better place to work, live and raise children,” he said.

Damian Krahl: “I was born in the old GMH building, grew up on a farm in Valley View and graduated from Valley View High School,” Krahl said.

“I have a degree in accounting from Texas A&M University in College Station. I own a CPA firm in Gainesville along with Linda Schumacher and we provide income tax, accounting and payroll services. I am a lifelong farmer with farms in Valley View and Lindsay. I have been married to my wife, Lucy, going on 16 years, have four children, and live north of Lindsay. We are members of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Lindsay where I have been a religion teacher for 11 years.”

Gloria Parrish: Gloria (Day) Parrish was born and raised in Gainesville, she said, and her parents were Herman and Nadine Day — life long residents of Gainesville and Cooke County.

“I am a graduate of Gainesville ISD and received my Associate of Arts degree from Gainesville Junior College (NCTC). After graduation I went to work for Dr. William F. Powell and Dr. Robert L. McLeroy at the Whidden Memorial Clinic. The years I worked there gave me a good understanding and appreciation for the health care profession. In 1969 I went to work for E. F. (Kit) Carson as assistant County School Superintendent and bookkeeper for the NorTex Federal Credit Union and in 1977 I was appointed to the position of Cooke County Auditor. I retired from this position in December 2004 after 28 years of service to the citizens of Cooke County. I am currently retired and involved in the Volunteer Auxiliary at NTMC and serve on the Board of Cooke County Friends of the Family and am a long time member and past president of the Soroptimist Club of Gainesville I feel that my service as a volunteer gives me a good perspective to bring to the Board of NTMC ...”

The sequence in which the following responses appear are by random selection. All responses were submitted in letter form to the Register, and may have been edited for space considerations and to ensure that the answers are in complete sentences.

What two main issues do you believe the NTMC Board will face in the remainder of this fiscal year?

Eichenberger: “ This year at NTMC we have moved forward rapidly. We have begun the new Medical Office Building and cancer center. We need to focus on completing these projects and ensuring that the MOB is successfully leased. As the hospital continues to grow it will be important to keep patient care at the forefront. Patient care will be a major key to keeping NTMC a successful medical facility in Cooke County. The NTMC Board of Directors must continue to ensure that management and staff keep the importance of patient care at the forefront. Every decision that is made should result in better patient care and patient services.

Janice Call: “Maintaining the financial integrity of the hospital will always be a high priority as we look for opportunities to expand our services to the community and recruit specialty physicians. In addition, it is our desire to see our hospital recognized for its quality of care and services through Joint Commission Accreditation, and we are taking active steps to achieve this.”

Jay Freeman: One main issue, he said, is “Continued improvement on satisfaction and quality for Certification by JAICO (while we’re far ahead of national or regional average of satisfaction and quality) we’ve set our goal to be certified by JAICO which will mean assured quality of our staff, both medical and hospital, in the performance of their duties, and patient satisfaction.”

Another issue, he said, is “Continued search for more doctors and broader services for our community.”

Jerry Parr: Parr said working toward JCAHO accreditation, continuing to work toward improving financial integrity, and working to improve hospital outcomes of patient care measures, and physician recruitment are key to the hospital’s near-future success.

Don Wallace: “The two main issues we will face for the remainder of the fiscal year at NTMC are keeping decent amounts of profit as we run out of money to handle indigent care and finding and hiring decent doctors to expand our services to the public in our area.”

Gloria Parrish: “I feel that physician recruitment is definitely an issue. It is a challenge to find good physicians who are willing to come to a small community but it is a challenge that we can not and will not ignore.

“We need to continue to insure financial integrity of NTMC in this time when government continues to reduce rates to the hospitals and physicians.”

Damian Krahl: Krahl said close monitoring CEOs and “unethical practices and staffing issues” are his concern.

“The board is currently working with the hospital’s attorney to send the CEO to sensitivity and training classes and managerial classes to deal with his abusive behavior of employees and board members. NTMC has lost many highly trained, dedicated employees in the last year due to the hostile work environment created by the CEO. There are currently four director-level positions open at NTMC. Some have been open for several months, including the surgical services director. The Gainesville Hospital District is paying this CEO over $230,000 in salary and benefits. In addition to this, this CEO has paid consultants another $188,030.04 this past year. The taxpayers deserve better. The board finally started dealing with this issue in January and will need to continue.

“Another issue the board must deal with is the overall philosophy and future direction of the hospital district. In the last year and a half, the board has made a dramatic shift in philosophy from a community service district hospital to a for-profit, make money at all costs mentality. Many community services have been closed or sold. There are too many healthcare decisions being made based on money rather than what is best for the patient and the community. If we are to keep our community hospital, the hospital has to give back to the community, not just take.”

What steps do you think NTMC can take to stay competitive with hospitals and health services in Denton and the DFW area?

Damian Krahl: “Our district took a big step in competing with other hospitals when we built our new facility. It is a beautiful and functional facility that should make everyone proud. The new facility can only be as good as the doctors and employees that work there and the environment they create. The board needs to do extensive research on why the citizens of Cooke County are driving by our new hospital and going to Sherman or Denton. We need to offer the services our district needs and can support. Also our community needs to have reasons to visit our hospital when they are well. Almost no one has a good hospital experience when they are sick. This can be done by sponsoring health fairs, community tours and wellness education. If people have a good experience when they are well, they may have a positive experience when they are sick.”

Gloria Parrish: “We must keep the salaries of our employees competitive with those in the surrounding areas. We have an excellent staff and retention of these employees is essential to good patient care. A small community hospital will never be able to offer all the services of a larger hospital, therefore we must strive to make certain that the services we do offer are equal or superior to those in the surrounding areas.”

Jay Freeman: One step, according to Freeman, is, “working closer with our medical staff to keep our patients here in town rather than have them sent out of town, which will mean adding additional services to our present offerings, possibly adding a Hospital doctor to care for all in house patients.”

Another step, he said, is “keeping our personnel in tune helping keep costs down and maximum efficiency in their respective duties, working as a team all with the same goal in sight to provide the best quality and most empathetic care to all our patients, after all it is this communities hospital, we’ve just had the privilege of guiding it for you.”

Don Wallace: “We are competitive in quality service with any hospital but must expand the types of service available to the good people of Cooke County. We need a heart specialist and another quality surgeon.”

Jerry Parr: Parr said it is crucial for NTMC to “keep our salaries competitive with those communities, we must continue to manage our financial position and keep those services we offer equal or better than other hospitals in our area.”

Janice Call: “Salaries and benefits must remain competitive in order to maintain and attract quality personnel. Continuing to improve the financial integrity of this hospital will allow us to be able to take care of our employees as well as our patients.”

Diana Eichenberger: “In order to remain competitive NTMC will need to recruit specialists to come to Cooke County. At this time the citizens of Cooke County travel to Denton or Sherman to receive medical care and treatment for illnesses that we do not have the physicians here who can care for them. For these physicians to practice in Gainesville and to provide the best care available at NTMC we must provide the latest equipment and facilities. Physicians and available services will allow us to remain competitive.”

What cost-saving measures do you recommend the hospital take to offset the rising cost of health care services, rising indigent care cases and a reduction in insurance and Medicare payments to hospitals?

Don Wallace: “We have joined a buying group which allows us to save substantially on supplies for the hospital. We must also push the insurance providers to keep the prices they allow us to increase with each renewal period. If you recall we had to go through this painful process with Blue Cross this year and made substantial gains in this area. The hospital does a good job of looking for ways to improve services for less money - it is a daily process.”

Jay Freeman: “Continued work in our PFA (Priority Focus Area) monthly meetings to look at both the fiscal responsibility shown in the operation of the department and usage of personnel, their quality showing,” are one cost-saving measure Freeman suggests; as well as, he said, “closer contact and work with state healthcare affiliates in applying pressure (when it can be done) on insurance companies and work with our state and federal officials keeping them informed on our needs.

“I’m currently on the State staff working with the Texas Academy of Governance that guide the Texas Hospital Association,” he added.

Jerry Parr: “We don’t have any low-hanging fruit in expenses to cut, we need to continue to look at re-negotiating with insurance companies to improve our reimbursement rate, and continue to evaluate existing hospital services to see if there is a better way of providing these services to the community.”

Janice Call: “There are many factors which contribute to the rising cost of health care services and indigent care cases which we will not be able to alter. However, we must look at ways to maximize our revenues to offset these situations, such as continuing our involvement in UPL (Upper Payment Limit) projects, and actively negotiating insurance contacts for better rates as we did last year with Blue Cross.”

Diana Eichenberger: “This issue has no easy answers. It is a national concern that every medical facility and medical professional is asking. I would not presume to think I could provide answers to such enormous issues. Management at NTMC is consistently working to offset rising health costs, indigent care costs and lower insurance payments. There is continuous work to lower operating costs, improve reimbursements and negotiate the best insurance contracts. NTMC continues to provide education and training for personnel, to purchase the latest software enhancements and to keep abreast of regulatory changes and mandates. By being progressive in these areas NTMC will be in a position to better control costs.”

Gloria Parrish: “What cost-savings measures do you recommend the hospital take to offset the rising cost of health care services, rising indigent care cases, and a reduction in insurance and Medicare payments to hospitals? We will need to review and re-negotiate the Managed Health Care Plans as was done with the Blue Cross/Blue Shield contract recently.

“We can be more involved with the UPL (Upper Payment Limit) projects with the Federal Government in order to receive increased returns in revenue. We must always be proactive and constantly evaluate the hospitals programs and services.”

Damian Krahl: “This hospital district has already implemented many cost-saving measures. In some cases they have gone too far. I would rather spend extra money to ensure quality care than to have money pile up in the bank. The issue of indigent care is always difficult. The main thing the board can do is make sure they collect enough taxes so the district does not run out of indigent funds before the end of the fiscal year. This past year the hospital changed the way indigent funds are distributed. The result was that indigent funds ran out faster and the doctors got paid less. Doctors are not going to come to our community if the district does not collect adequate taxes to cover indigent care.”

4. Which services, if any, do you believe NTMC should add within the next five years?

Gloria Parrish: “NTMC is currently expanding facilities to house a cancer center and I feel that we must continue in our efforts to recruit physicians and specialist. We need to look at the areas of Oncology, Cardiology, Urology, General Surgery and Orthopedics.”

Damian Krahl: “I hope the board is interested in adding services. The past year or so they have been closing services and selling others. The district can always use new doctors for services we currently do not provide as long as there is a sufficient patient base to support the doctor. Another cardiologist would be a welcome addition. I also know that doctors have been asking for a diabetes education program. I believe the community would benefit from more well care programs.”

Janice Call: “We will soon see the addition of Oncology services provided to our community, as we have just broken ground for a new building designated to house the Gainesville Cancer Center. Also, we see a growing need for cardiac care in our community, and with the existing Rehab facilities we now have, it would be advantageous to expand our cardiology services. As our community residents drive many miles out of town to receive these specialty services, it will be a blessing to have these types of care offered in association with our hospital.”

Diana Eichenberger: “ NTMC is always looking to provide additional services to our County. The oncology center that we are in the process of contracting with will provide cancer treatment for many residents. New or additional services that I believe would benefit Gainesville include urology, orthopedics, cardiology, orthopedics and dermatology. The list of specialties is extensive. It is the objective of the Board and management to pursue only those services that we believe can be supported by our patient needs.

Jay Freeman: “With the current entry of our Cancer Treatment Center, there will be all types of services to be added in that field. Invasive cardiology services will be a must, I don’t think we’ll be ready for complete heart transplants but it’s in our future. Not only actual services are to be added but additional building facility to our present hospital will be happening, along with at least one other Medical Office Building on the campus, and possibly a Fitness or Wellness Center housing an Olympic swimming pool and equipment for community and school, both college and school usage.”

Jerry Parr: “Cardiology, Oncology, Urology, expand orthopedics and expand surgery,” are among Freeman’s preferred services to add.

Don Wallace: “Within the next five years NTMC will need to add the following services to continue to expand our services to the community: Add full cancer treating abilities with certified doctor; add a heart specialist to our community; add an ear, nose and throat doctor and find a quality surgeon for our area.”

Reporter Andy Hogue may be contacted at andyhoguegdr@ntin.net